Hardwood Floors August/September 2017

Unique Techniques Board Replacement: Good as New

the unaffected flooring, apply 3-6 runs of tape along the edges of the base plate of the circular saw and set the depth to the thickness of the flooring.

pieces of board, being careful not to damage any adjoining boards. Remove any remaining fasteners and adhesive from the subfloor. When possible, try to leave the original underlayment material intact. If removal is necessary, replace it with a similar material to maintain the vapor retarding membrane. Clean all debris from the replacement area.

One of the advantages of wood as a flooring option is that it can be renewed to look new again. There are times, however, when this can be a challenge. One example is when there is a single board, or several, that cannot be touched up or repaired. In these cases, the damaged boards must be replaced. This article will focus on nail down or glue down board replacements. Floating floor board replacements will be covered in a future issue. Board replacement is a valuable service you can provide for your customers. It is a specialized skill that will increase your marketability. The most important consideration for board replacements is locating a replacement piece of flooring. It must be the same species, width, length, thickness, profile, color, finish and cut as the original flooring material. For factory finished or engineered flooring, make sure to identify and locate replacement material prior to cutting into the floor. Once the material is secured, you must ensure the replacement product has been properly acclimated to the environment. The acclimation process will vary depending on the product and the job site. As part of the acclimation process, take moisture readings of the existing flooring and the new flooring. These two readings should be no more than 2 percent different from each other. Before you make any cuts, make sure that you are aware of radiant heat systems that may be installed below the flooring. For easy identification, you can tape off the board that is to be replaced. To protect

The first cut you make should be parallel with the length of the board about 1/2” from the edge, end to end. Your second cut should be about 1/2” from the edge on the opposite side of the board. The third cut you make should be across the center of the board at an angle. To make extraction of the material easier, make a fourth angled cut that is parallel to the third cut. You should have split the ends of the two parallel cuts where the circular blade left uncut material.

Measure the replacement area and cut the replacement flooring to length, removing the tongue on the butt-end of the board. Cut off the bottom groove side of the replacement board on the butt-end, as well as along the run of the board.

You may need to chamfer, or back-bevel, the underside of the board where the groove was removed to allow the piece to fit into the opening without damaging adjoining boards or adjust the thickness of the board with factory finished or previously sanded floors. Dry-fit the piece and make adjustments as necessary.

You should be able to remove the center piece of the cut board easily. Use a sharp wood chisel to remove any remaining

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